Get more out of CSR: unlocking hidden HR benefits

By Mike Walmsley, Corporate Fundraising Manager

We all know that raising money for charity has a positive impact on the CSR profile of your business and rightly gives back to society. But, what can it do for your people?

How can you make sure that your business’s next charitable endeavour is adding value to your staff? Is it delivering on key HR objectives around staff and team development, transferable skills and CPD? Is it creating an opportunity to engage your ‘employee voice’?

Mutually beneficial CSR

At The Wallich, we’ve run a competition for businesses over the last five years called Clash of the Corporates. Companies compete against each other to raise the most money from a £50 investment over 50 days. The money raised goes towards helping people experiencing homelessness in Wales.

When I joined The Wallich in 2017, the focus was on the fundraising aspect. The way that we talked about it was very financial – think red braces, Wall Street and £50 notes. Rightly, we’ve shifted the focus towards skills development and building successful teams to create a mutually beneficial challenge.

The teams that perform well are those who create a structure where good ideas can succeed. They set goals, establish roles and responsibilities, communicate, plan and manage time effectively, they map out risk-reward analysis; skills that all benefit the participants and the business.

Clash of the Corporates creates structures which allow them to perform. As a result, I spend less time talking about income generation and more about building successful teams – and it works.

In 2017, I had nine competing teams – 60% fewer than the previous year. But, they raised 280% more, increasing average income per team from £360 to £2,460. High performing teams indeed.

If you’d like to challenge your team and help tackle homelessness, please get in touch. We’d love to see how far your teams can develop.